Let us love Allah swt more than anything else!

I would like to share with you a beautiful Hadith Qudsi which says a lot about our relationship with our lord Allah swt, subhanallah.

“Myself, Mankind and Jinn are in a great serious state. I create them, then they worship other gods that they make for themselves; I bless them with my bounties, then they thank someone else for what I sent them; My Mercy descends to them while their evil deeds ascend to Me; I endear them with my gifts even though I have no need for any of them while they alienate themselves from Me with their sins even though they are desperate for My help.

Whoever returns to Me, I accept him no matter how far he is; and whoever turns away from Me, I approach him and call on him. Whoever leaves a sin for my sake, I reward him with many gifts and whoever seeks to please Me, I seek to please him. Whoever acknowledges My Will and Power in whatever he does, I make the iron bend for his sake. My dear people are those who are with Me (i.e. whoever would like to be with Me, let him supplicate to Me and remember Me). Whoever thanks Me, I grant him more blessings; whoever obeys Me, I raise him and endear him more. Whoever disobeys Me, I keep the doors of My Mercy open for him; if he returns to Me, I bestow him with My Love since I love those who repent and purify themselves for My Sake. If he does not repent, I still treat him by putting them in hardship to purify him.

Whoever favors Me over others, I favor them over others. I reward every single good deed ten times over or seven hundred times over to countless times over. I count every single bad deed as one unless the person repents and ask for My Forgiveness in which case I forgive even that one. I take into account any little good deed and I forgive even major sins. My Mercy supersedes My Anger; My Tolerance supersedes My Blame; My Forgiveness supersedes My Punishment as I am more merciful with My slaves than a mother with her child.” (Madarij As-Saalikeen by Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziya)

I found this wonderful hadith qudsi at Imam Suhaib Webb's page. He is a very good imam mashallah. His cds on Mothers of the believers which I have listened during Ramadan was very inspiring, mashallah. May Allah swt reward him with the best of the both world, ameen.

Ramadan is gone… what to do now?

It feels like just the other day we have started fasting and now the great month is over! I am missing Ramadan. Allah swt makes everything easier in Ramadan. Everything becomes so special during Ramadan. We feel more motivated to perform act of worship in order to please our Lord. Shayateen are chained up and the doors of jannah are open. Apparently Jannah gets decorated again in order to celebrate this sacred month. Mosques are packed with Muslims. Families get busy with iftar parties. Children are also willing to fast, asking their parents to wake them up for sehri. Even the Muslims who don’t pray their obligatory five prayers throughout the year try to fast and do their best in this holy month. To sum it up, almost everybody is in Ramadan Mode!

As a mother of two very young children, I was a bit worried before the start of Ramadan. I was wondering whether I will be able to fast, pray taraweeh and tahajjud and so on. Alhamdulillah Allah swt helped me to do as much as possible but I wish I could have done more. I think after Ramadan everybody feels like that. Our predecessors, the companions of our beloved prophet saw used to prepare six months before Ramadan so that they can do a lot during Ramadan. Unfortunately I didn’t do that much preparation and that’s why I regret not doing enough. I don’t know whether I will be given the opportunity to witness the next Ramadan. One of my very close friends was diagnosed with cancer during Ramadan 2007 and she passed away in February 2008. She was around my age. We tend to think that death is not going to come to us now as we are young! We are deluded by our own nafs and the Shaytan, thinking we have got plenty of time to waste!

Let us try our best to carry on acting upon the good deeds we have tried to do in Ramadan even if it’s the minimum we can do. In Ramadan we try to pray quite a lot of supererogatory (nawafil) prayers on top of obligatory one. We need to try to maintain that salah mode even if it means to do only two rakah as nafl salah. Allah swt loves the actions which are small but done on a regular basis. He is so Merciful and Generous to us that He has given us the wonderful opportunity to get the reward of fasting the WHOLE YEAR by just doing Ramadan fast and the fasting of only six days in Shawal! Shawal is here now so let us fast six days in this month Insha-Allah.

Our companions used to ask Allah swt for six months after Ramadan to accept their deeds done in Ramadan and they used to prepare for the next Ramadan the rest of the year by asking Allah swt to grant them the tawfiq to witness the next Ramadan. Let us follow them and do our best to be close to our Lord, Allah swt.

Ramadan is the month of training. It is the month of the Qur’an. Through fasting in Ramadan we are supposed to gain Taqwa (God-consciousness i.e. Fear and Love of Allah swt). Muslims try to recite the whole of the Qur’an in this month but unfortunately we tend to leave the Qur’an on the top shelf gathering dust rest of the year! The Qur’an is given to us for everyday of our life. This is the manual we need to refer back to on a regular basis in order to live our life as good Muslims. Our prophet saw and his companions followed the Qur’an on a day to day basis. They used to remind each other to read, recite and reflect on this great Book. They knew how vital Qur’an is to please Allah swt and reach jannah. Let us try to study the Qur’an on a regular basis and try to act upon the Qur’an. Our children will never understand and love their faith if we as parents don’t follow the Qur’an. We need to lead by example!

Ramadan as a mother

Alhamdulillah I was able to attend a lecture on the first day of Ramadan in East Ham. I love the ustadha (teacher) very much as she is very sincere and dedicated in dawah and that is why I try to attend her circle every week. May Allah (swt) reward her for sharing her knowledge with the ummah. There are quite a lot of things that I have learned through attending this particular one that insha-Allah, I hope to share with you all through this post.

At the beginning we had to go through a short brainstorming session to jot down some of the things we may find difficult as mothers during Ramadan. Not surprisingly, tiredness, lack of concentration, not being able to perform tarawih in the mosque, and the ‘what to cook’ dilemma were the frequent ones. One of the most common complaints was the feeling of not being able to do a lot during this great month.

Mashallah in response, the sister tried to explain our role as mothers and how we should tackle the issues. As mothers we are responsible for taking care of our children and husband. We are in charge of our family and they are dependant on us. We are doing khidma (service) to them! Allah (swt) has allocated us to do this great job. Our beloved Prophet (saw) has taught us that the best of us are the ones who take care of others. If we try to solve someone’s problem, Allah (swt) will relive us from our difficulties on the day of judgement. We need to change our perspective as mothers. We need to realize that our family is a blessing to us and through them we can earn Allah (swt)’s pleasure. We as mothers are not going to be asked whether we have completed the recitation of the Qur’an during this month but we will be asked how we treated our family.

Like us, women of Rasulullah (saw)’s age, once complained about their life and were told that all the work men do (e.g. performing prayer at the mosque, attending his sermons, participating in jihad) equals to the work Muslim women do at home! Subhanallah! Allah (swt) is rewarding us so much for what we are doing for our family. We are the Mujahida struggling to raise the future ummah, Insha-Allah!

However, it does not mean that we should not try to do other acts of worship during this month. We need to balance our life. Some of the tips the sister came up with are:

Preparation, preparation and preparation:
During the time of our beloved Prophet (saw), the companions used to prepare for Ramadan six months ahead. So preparation is very crucial to get the best out of Ramadan. Rasulullah (saw) used to increase his effort before Ramadan. We have to remember that we are supposed to increase our deeds during Ramadan, not just starting our acts of worship. Ramadan should be truly a month of increasing our effort to please Allah (swt)! Unfortunately, a lot of us tend to just start some deeds and stop it on Eid! May Allah (swt) save us from this sort of mentality and may he (swt) keep us motivated throughout our life and carry on doing good deeds. Allah (swt) loves the deeds which are small but frequent.

We need to gradually build up our ability to worship Allah (swt), so that by the end of Ramadan we can do more to get the benefit of last ten nights Insha-Allah. Nobody would like to miss the night of power, which is a night equal to almost 83 years! Rasulullah (saw) has rarely cursed anyone, but he did curse those Muslims who get the opportunity of having Ramadan but not benefiting from it in order to seek Allah (swt)’s forgiveness!

Meal planner: In terms of meal preparation, it’s better to have a meal planer so that we can plan our shopping list and cooking time accordingly. One of the sisters told us that it’s better to have a ten day meal planner as it makes life much easier and gives us peace of mind. It also saves us from wasting our precious pre-iftar time when our duas (supplication) are more likely to get accepted. Unfortunately during this time, sisters are more likely to be stuck in the kitchen preparing a feast! This month is supposed to be a month of moderation in everything. However, our eating habits portray the complete opposite. We as families need to evaluate this situation and change our eating habits. Unfortunately instead of losing weight as people might think you would do whilst fasting, we Muslims tend to gain weight! Our prophetic tradition teaches us to break our fast with simple food i.e. dates, milk, water, soup with meat and wheat, fruits and vegetables. For our own sake, we need to change our saturated fat and salt & sugar rich diets insha-Allah, as it will help us to do all the acts of worship easily insha-Allah.

Concentration (khushoo) in prayer:
In terms of creating concentration in prayer, the sister told us that the scholars have advised us to approach ablution (wudu) with khushoo. We need to keep in mind who we are standing before! As mothers we have to plan before prayer (salah) in terms of what our children may need, and how they can be kept occupied so that we can do our salah with full concentration. Children need to be taught to respect the prayer time. Personally, I have found giving them their own tiny prayer mat helps a lot as they feel involved in the salah. We also need to try standing in front of our Rabb with gratitude. Just imagine the many blessings He has (swt) bestowed on us! You really cannot count them all! Subhanallah!

Having the right intention:
Through having the pure intention of just to please Allah (swt), we can turn even the simplest acts into acts of worship. Everything we do can become a way to get closer to Allah (swt) if we have the right intention with the purer the intention, the higher the reward! For example, no matter how boring household chores may feel, we can remember the greater purpose behind why we are doing it them and we can turn them into ibadah. We are wives and mothers because Allah (swt) wants us to be. Our children are amanah (trust) to us. Through helping them we can help ourselves to gain Taqwa. According to Muslim scholars, Taqwa means to obey Allah (swt) hoping for His reward and mercy and avoiding sins hoping to be saved from His punishment. Allah (swt) has told us in the Qur’an that He ordered us to fast during Ramadan so that we can gain Taqwa. We need to make sure that we have Taqwa in every moment of our life insha-Allah.

In terms of difficulties in attending Tarawih as mothers, we can share our time with other mothers, offering to look after each others’ children in turn so that we all can get chance to pray Tarawih in jama’ah (congregation). From my own experience as the mother of two babies, I find it much more comfortable praying at home after 10:30 while my children are sleeping peacefully.

May Allah (swt) enable us to do our best in this holy month and grant us His pleasure and jannatul firdous, ameen.

In loving memory of my uncle

Our beloved uncle died last year (2008) shortly after Ramadan. He was in a state of fasting as it was the holy month of Sha’wal. When I got the news of this terrible loss, I felt very sad as he was one of the uncles who left a firm and lasting impression in my heart with his special personality. He had a very kind heart that loved everyone sincerely and used to trust everyone.
He was a devout Muslim who tried to practise this beautiful faith in every way possible. In this day and age, being a practising Muslim is very difficult and looked down upon. Despite all the difficulties he had to go through, he never showed any lack of enthusiasm in sincerely following his Deen. He was a man of principle.

Alhamdulillah we came to know uncle and his family while we were growing up in Iran. Our families used to socialise a lot together and there are plenty of wonderful memories I still cherish from my childhood, thanks to Allah subhana wa tawala. As far as I can remember, uncle was always very involved in raising his children with aunty. Unfortunately, most of the times mothers have to take sole responsibility of raising the children while fathers remain detached from this great responsibility. However, as a devout Muslim, uncle was always involved in bringing up their children with patience and integrity. I still remember how much effort and patience he used to have in feeding his beloved eldest son. He was also very active in raising his two wonderful daughters in an Islamic way. As a husband he was very caring and helpful to aunty. Even as an uncle to us he was very friendly as well as very approachable. He used to make us laugh by doing things in a funny way. We used to love being around him. During Eid, as Bangladeshi families in Iran, we used to organise Eid parties which us children used to look forward to these special events. Once just before Eid ul Adha, uncle took us to buy couple of sheep for Eid slaughtering. I still remember how hard it was to get hold of any sheep. Uncle and my father were constantly chasing the herd of sheep to get hold of one of them. When I try to visualize that moment, it always makes me smile. Sometimes in their house, uncle used to organise small events to inspire us to learn more about Islam. We used to recite the small surahs from the Qur’an. In the end, every one of us used to get lovely presents from uncle. At that time, as children we just felt happy without really realising that our beloved uncle was teaching us our faith through his unique way. Thanks to Allah subhana wa tawala, we are lucky to have such a wonderful childhood due to people like MohammadUllah uncle and other likeminded people around us who tried their best through their own life to teach us our beautiful religion. For me, uncle had a unique quality to engage children in Islamic activities without making the whole process boring, Mashallah. We need personalities like him who would provide us with a good example, who would not just preach but follow the faith in their own life too. That’s why we can see, Alhamdulillah uncle with aunty’s help has brought up their four children with a sense of Islamic values and ethos. They have grown up in an environment where they love and cherish their faith and try to practice it on a daily basis. For any parent this is a remarkable achievement. Our faith teaches us to respect our parents and pray for them when they go back to their Lord Allah subhana wa tawala. Only few things benefit a deceased and one of them is to leave behind pious offspring who would pray for their parents and continue to perform good deeds for them. I hope and pray that uncle’s sons and daughters do their best in this respect with aunty’s help, insha-Allah. I hope all of the children will live up to their beloved father’s expectations. May Allah subhana wa tawala grant our beloved uncle jannatul ferdous and protect his family and help them to lead a good prosperous life, ameen. May Allah swt grant every one of us the ability to lead a righteous life and have a good ending, ameen.

Uncle’s death reminds us again and again how short and uncertain our life is. However, the bitter fact is we tend to forget the reality of death. We are so obsessed with our day to day life that we forget to prepare for our life in hereafter which will surely never end. I would like to conclude with the wise saying of Ammar bin Yasir RAW: “Death is enough as a reminder, certainty is enough as wealth and performing acts of worship is sufficient as a job.”

My pregnancy

Alhamdulillah I am pregnant for the second time. My son is 13 months old now and recently started walking mashallah. Insha-Allah I am looking forward to have another tiny angel after couple of months. I always wanted to be a mother and am so glad that Allah swt has granted me my wishes so quickly. The feeling is overwhelming. There is nothing in the world which can give that much pleasure, subhanallah. I am very grateful to Allah SWT. There is a supplication ( dua) taught by our beloved prophet Muhammad SAW which I like to recite as much as possible to thank Allah for all the blessing in my life. The supplication is really beautiful that’s why I would like to share this wonderful supplication with you all:

“Subhanallah wa bihamdihi ‘adada khalqihi wa rida’ nafsihi wa zinata ‘arshihi wa midada kalimatihi” which means “Glorified be Allah and praise is due to Him to the extent of the number of His creation and to the extent of His pleasure and to the extent of the weight of His Throne and to the extent of ink used in recording words for His Praise.”

However, life during pregnancy can be quite difficult too. Recently I have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. It’s a form of diabetes which occurs during pregnancy and usually disappears after the birth. People who suffer from gestational diabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes within five to 10 years. Sometimes diet is enough to control the blood sugar level but for some people they may need to take medication or insulin to control their blood sugar. Alhamdulillah up until now I am managing my blood sugar level just through the diet. With my first pregnancy I had gestational diabetes and after couple of weeks I came to know that I am also suffering from high blood pressures which lead to pre-eclamsia. I was induced at 34 weeks and Alhamdulillah was able to deliver my baby boy normally within couple of hours. Although the timing was quite early, he was healthy and didn’t have any problem Alhamdulillah. I believe babies are miracles. Allah SWT provides for them with lots of strength to survive in this world. As a first time mother, I was very scared and confused. I had a constant fear and doubt about whether I will be able to bring him up properly and whether I was doing the right thing at the right time. But Alhamdulillah things went well and mashallah he is a happy and healthy toddler now.

Although through out my pregnancy I had to go through different sorts of complications, I still believe I am very lucky Alhamdulillah. Allah SWT likes to give us test to see how we react to difficult situation. But one thing I have learned from my life is no matter how terrible things may seem, by the grace of Allah SWT problems eventually get sorted out. I feel closer to Allah SWT when I am in pain and sorrow. The feeling of being totally dependant on Allah swt but none else is really wonderful one. We are created by Him and we are always in need of His help. I have never felt disappointed after making a sincere prayer to my Lord. The more the difficulties the more the rewards are allocated for us. That’s how we are supposed to see our life.

While going through the difficult phase of pregnancy, I have tried to gain as much knowledge as possible from the Quran and the Sunnah of our beloved prophet Muhammad saw about pregnancy and motherhood and of course there is no end to learning. However, whatever I have managed to learn I would like to share with my sisters as it will definitely help us all to accept all the difficulties with ease. Knowledge gives us the firm conviction we need to worship Allah swt with love and sincerity.

In the Qur’an the word used for womb is Rahim, which comes from the same root as Raheem (Merciful). Moreover, a pregnant woman is literally referred to as one with a burden, dhat haml.

And for those who have a burden (pregnant) their term is when they bring forth their burden. 65:4

If they have a burden (pregnant) then spend on them until they bring forth their burden. 65:6

Although pregnancy is a beautiful feeling and state of being, it also has lots of complications attached to it. This is also a time of frequent urination, backache, leg cramps, bleeding gums, hair loss, and hormonal overloads, kicking from the inside out, tender breasts, groin pain, and of course plenty of everyday complaints. Moreover, pregnancy is also a risk to the health of the mother, ranging from high blood pleasure, low blood pressure, gestational diabetes, forms of cancer, potential blood clotting problems and a slew of other real medical dangers. So, pregnancy itself is a burden for the woman, not to mention the burdens of delivery.

However, Allah SWT is very merciful to us. Whatever pain we go through in life, if we are patient enough to accept it without questioning our faith, then Allah SWT will reward us. It’s same with pregnancy. Here are some virtues of being pregnant:

It is mentioned that Rasulullah saw said: "Does it not please you (O Women!) that when you conceive from your husbands while he is pleased with you then that woman will receive such reward equal to that of a fasting person in the path of Allah and spending the night in ibaadat. When her labour pains commence the inhabitants of the earth and the sky are unaware of the stores of comfort that are prepared for her. When she delivers and breast feeds her child then she will be granted a reward for every gulp of milk, and if she had to remain awake during the night for the sake of her child, she will receive the reward of emancipating seventy slaves in the path of Allah. O Salaama! Do you know who these women are? They are pious, upright, and delicately natured but yet are obedient to their husbands and not ungrateful to them."

Rasulullah saw also said: "A woman from her pregnancy till the time of weaning her child is like one protecting the boundaries of the Islamic state. If she passes away during this period she attains the reward of martyrdom." So being pregnant is like being a mujahidah i.e. someone struggling in the path of Allah SWT to gain His pleasure. That’s why it is mentioned in one of the hadith that the woman who dies of labour pains is regarded as a martyr (shaheedah).Subhanallah what else we can ask for! We are already aware of the excellence of jihad in Islam and as women we are given the exclusive opportunity to engage in such a special form of jihad ! All praise belongs to Allah !

Through out pregnancy, it is recommended to ask Allah SWT as much as possible. In terms of what to read during pregnancy, the following supplications I have gathered from different source especially the Quran and the Sunnah:

Rabbana hablana min azwajina wa dhuriyyatina qurrata a’yuniw waj’alna lil muttaqina imama.

Our Lord! Grant that our spouses and our offspring be a comfort to our eyes, and give us the grace to lead those who are conscious of You. (25:74)



Rabbi habli mil ladunka dhurriyatan tayyiba. Innaka sami’ud dua.

O my Lord! Grant me from You a good offspring. You are indeed the All-Hearer of invocation. (3:38)

There is also a very beautiful dua from surah Ah-qaf (46:15) . I am just giving the meaning of the verses:

My Lord! Grant me the power and ability that i may be grateful for Your favour which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and that I may do righteous good deeds such as please You and make my offspring good. Truly, I have turned to You in repentance and I am one of the Muslims.



Hasbunallaahu wa ni'imal wakeel

Allah suffices us and He is the best guardian.

Also it is mentioned that Fatima (radiyallahu anha) reports that when it was time for her to deliver her child, "Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) sent Umme Salma (radiyallahu anha) and Zainab (radiyallahu anha) to me with the instruction that they read Aayatul Kursi, surah Al-Falaq and An-naas and the following verse for easy delivery:

"Inna rabbakumullaahul ladhiy khalaqas samaawaati wal ardha fiy sittati ayyaamin thumma-stawaa alal arsh, yughshiyl llaylan nahaara wa yatlubuhoo hatheethan was shamsa wal qamara wan nujooma musakh-kharaatim bi amrihi. Alaa lahul khalqu wal amru, tabaaraka llaahu rabbul aalameen. Ud'oo rabbakum tadharru'an wa khufyatan, innahoo laa yuhibbul mu'tadeen." Surah Al-A'raf (7:54-55)

Indeed your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days and He rose over the Throne (really in a manner that suits His Majesty). He brings the night as a cover over the day, seeking it rapidly and (He created) the sun, the moon, the stars subjected to His Command. Surely, His is the Creation and Commandment. Blessed is Allah, the Lord of the A’lamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists) Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret. He likes not the aggressors.



May Allah SWT give us the strength and patience to go through the different phases of pregnancy and Insha-Allah grant us healthy and pious offspring and reward us for our struggle, ameen.

Education in Islam

Most of the times when we think about education, by default the western concept of education come to our mind which lacks the essential knowledge of faith i.e. the existence of Allah as our Lord and His sole right to be worshipped wholeheartedly by all human beings. Education for majority of this world means secular education which tends to give more emphasis on job-oriented goals. Unfortunately we Muslims are also getting deceived by this sort of education and starting to believe that the only way to success is to get secular education.

Sometimes parents do not have any intention to bring up their children in proper Islamic way. Instead, the secular education becomes the only priority. However, I do believe that secular education is necessary in order to succeed in this world but there should be more priority given to become the true vicegerent (khalifa) of Allah on this earth. In fact, this concept of secular education is alien to Islam.

Islam is a way of life not just a mere religion. Education entails everything that brings you closer to Allah SWT. For example, being a doctor makes you have more knowledge about Allah SWT’s magnificent and sophisticated creations as well as serving His creation to the best. Through this profession, you tend to be more able to worship Allah with proper understanding. That is just an example of one profession. There are plenty of other noble profession, through which we can manifest our devoutness and love for our Creator Allah SWT.

In Islam, education is comprehensive and we do not need to separate this system into secular and divine. Its in fact during the renaissance period of Europe , the so called intelligent people came up with idea of separating religion from every aspect of public life , thus religion was forced to be confined in private arena and science and technology become godless arena. We can see the devastating effect of that in our modern life. We as the super intelligent beings of twenty first century have managed to kill more innocent people in more sophisticated ways than ever before!

Even in Muslim world, the effect of renaissance was corrupting the empty minds of so-called Muslims. When Muslims are not practising their deen properly, they get deviated quite easily by Satan and his agents. Thus, the history of colonialism and imperialism gives us the vivid picture of polluting and corrupting the Muslim mind with secular ideas. Unfortunately during that period majority of Muslims also fell into trap of ‘divide and rule’ policy and ended up having two groups in a same society: one educated in western tradition and enjoying the fruits of prosperity and the other ended up with so called religious education and trapped in limited field of religious institutions which were disappearing quite rapidly. You can see the example of this in every country. Thus, you can notice around Muslim world traditionally the intelligent kid is sent to become a doctor or an engineer and the ‘dumb’ one is sent to madrasa ( religious institution) to become a ‘alim’(Alim is one who has attended a reliable institution and received sound knowledge of the Qur’an, Sunnah, Fiqh and Arabic from qualified tutors) . Sadly we tend to underestimate the importance of religious education. Societies as a whole don’t view religious education as something cool and trendy. I can’t blame them that much as I personally would not send my children to madrasa as the track record of them are unfortunately not that good either. I believe Islam promotes very strongly to be smart and best in both worlds. Even in the Qur’an Allah SWT has taught us a prayer where we can ask for the best of both worlds.

Let us as Muslim mothers, educate our self with the best of both and teach our children to be balanced in their perspective. If we as mother do our job properly, Insha-Allah our sons and daughters will carry the real message of Islam which will free this world from all the false and dangerous ideas, Insha-Allah. May Allah SWT guide us towards the right path.

The crisis of modernity and the role of the Muslim women

Society has witnessed a lot of change in last couple of decades. Men's roles and responsibilities, hopes and aspirations have changed through out this period. As a result, gender roles have acquired new meanings. Education has played a very vital role in empowering women and their social status. Majority of women are more likely to be found in workplace than ever before. The way women in modern days perceive their life varies from the traditional way. Now a days, in our society a so-called 'successful woman' is the one who seems to have it all i.e. good look, good education, at least a graduate degree, a good well-paid job as well as a nice family , most probably with one or two children.

Apart from some exceptional 'superwomen', it is almost impossible for most of the women to cope with so many responsibilities in such a limited time and maintain a 'successful' reputation. That’s why the tale of 'superwoman' seems a myth to a lot extent. The pressure and expectation created by the modern society causes lot of stress for women. It has left most of the women with double burden of private and public life.

If we go back to the rise of feminism in 1960s through out most of the western nations, the movement was triggered by western women becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the way they have been treated. The inequality in almost every sphere of life made them rebel against the society. To a lot extent, strict patriarchal values played a major role in oppressing women. Unfortunately, though Islam views men and women as equal partners in society who complements each other, the Muslim societies around the world treated women more or less in a same way as their western counterparts.

The majority of Muslim societies are to a large extent influenced by the West through its brutal legacy of colonialism and imperialism. As a result Muslim women in modern times have also witnessed lot of change in their lives. The rise of modernity has enabled women to have some luxuries in their life such as the right to have liberty, equality, education and so on. However, we as Muslims cannot view the whole concept of modernity as something very positive for us to follow. We need to scrutinize the nitty gritty of what it really means to be modern.

Modern world is getting increasingly secular in its nature. The complete absence of Devine entity in our public life is what the ultimate goal of a modern life is. Religion has to a lot extent been forced to the private arena and the major institutions are left secular in their vision and course of action. Modernity promotes the idea of individualism, instant gratification, the preference of wealth and fame over ethics and morality. No doubt the rise of modern society has given birth to negative understanding of life and the expectations of men.

For modern Muslim woman Islam is not just a mere religion rather she perceives Islam as a way of life which is termed as Deen in Arabic. A modern Muslim woman tries to maintain a balance between her public and private life. Whatever has been prescribed to us by our Lord Allah SWT to follow in order to remain as practising muslimahs, we try to follow that to our best of abilities. The way the modern society wants us to perceive and plan our life is not compatible to what our Lord wants from us.

Unfortunately Islam as a religion has been portrayed as very rigid and oppressive to women due to ignorance and cultural practise of majority of Muslims around the world. Sadly local culture which to a great extent is not approved by Islam and its teaching, has been dominating Muslim mind over the years and as a result our beautiful and universal Deen, Islam has been unfairly judged through the action of so-called Muslims who lack proper knowledge of the Quran and the Sunnah of our beloved prophet Muhammad SAW.

We as Muslim women have lots of things to do to create a strong Ummah like our golden age of Islam. First, we need to educate ourselves through in-depth study of the Quran and the Sunnah of our beloved prophet SAW and only through learning and practising sincerely our religion we can empower our women and the whole of the Ummah Insha-Allah. We also need to remember that Allah has entrusted us with a great responsibility of Khalifa which makes us, Muslims and Muslimahs the representative of our Lord on this earth. We have been sent with a noble mission. We have already promised Allah before Him sending us for our great mission on this ephemeral world to worship Only Him and follow Only His guidance wholeheartedly and try to propagate this noble message to everyone as well as creating a world based on justice.

We Muslims women are not weak and powerless because we have Allah as our Lord and Sustainer. He is sufficient for us as a Helper. He is also the best of the planner. So what are we waiting for? O my dear sisters in Islam let us embark on a journey of learning, practising, propagating this wonderful faith of ours and uniting this great Ummah of our beloved prophet Muhammad SAW. Let us help each other to know and worship our Creator with our best of abilities and march to jannah together. May Allah SWT grant us His Mercy and His acceptance of us as His khalifa.